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Aqua Marine: Daniel Dillard’s IS300

Photos via C12productions
It’s not often that a police officer dares push the boundaries when it comes to modifying cars. It’s not to say that they don’t have taste, it’s just that being flashy and easily noticed is something that usually doesn’t fit the job description. Daniel Dillard’s love with modding cars started at the age of 16, but once he moved to Palm Beach, Florida to start his career as a law enforcement officer, he never knew just how much his 2004 Lexus IS300 would be transformed.Wide eyed and filled with energy, Daniel’s journey began with a routine patrol back in 2009. Being trained to detect suspicious behavior, a pair of illuminated car lights in an abandoned store front quickly saw him focus on a pair of shady characters, but everything was not as it seemed. As it turned out, the two would-be robbers named Evan Kozak and Tom Mangs were actually wrenching late into the night on a BMW M3 for their new performance shop called Serious Autosport; it looked like Daniel’s plan of not tweaking his ride were about to take a back seat.What started as possible breaking and entering charges quickly developed into a long-lasting friendship, but most importantly it re-ignited Daniel’s passion for driving low. It was now time to overhaul the Lexus. The first step was to slap on a Vertex front bumper and side skirts, Chargespeed rear bumper, Seibon carbon fibre hood, Vis carbon fibre trunk, and a fresh Lamborghini Celeste Phoebe Blue paint job. Next saw an interior upgrade in the form of carbon fibre trim and a complete JL Audio speaker system, but something was still missing…Calls went out to CCW Wheels for a wheel setup that would accent the overall look he was going for. Custom made 18×9.5″ front and 18×11″ rear LM20 wheels with shot peened black centers and glossy lips were delivered which gave Daniel that extra bit of subtle bad assery he needed to offset the loud paint and body kit.With so much money tied into the front bumper, Daniel needed a way to protect this investment, and coilovers just wasn’t going to cut it. A full Universal Air Suspension Aero Sport bag over OEM strut setup was assembled and held together with an Air Lift Autopilot V2 management setup. Wanting to stand out even further, he polished his 5-gallon tank to a mirror shine and sunk it inside a custom-made trunk enclosure.As much as Daniel wanted to turn a new page with his career of public service, fate had a different idea. We for one are glad he stumbled upon the boys at Serious Autosport because without them, this ride would be just an average grocery getter.